Nitish Kumar had dumped the BJP in August 2022. (File)
A day after Bihar BJP chief Samrat Choudhary vowed to reduce Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his party to dust in the next Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Mr Kumar said leaders of the saffron party have become "brainless".
The JD(U) de facto leader was replying to a query from journalists about Mr Choudhary's remark that Mr Kumar will be turned to dust ('mitti mein mila denge') in the next general elections for his "betrayal".
"They (BJP) are brainless (Buddhihin) people. Tell him (Samrat Choudhary) to do what he said. I have never used such words in my entire political career. No sensible politicians use such words. I have also worked with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, I have a lot of respect for him," Nitish Kumar said.
The state BJP president had said at a function here on Saturday that Nitish Kumar had "backstabbed" the BJP and joined hands with RJD chief Lalu Prasad to "pursue' his prime ministerial ambitions.
"With the help of the the BJP, Nitish Kumar became the chief minister five times. Now the JD (U) will bite the dust....BJP will grind Nitish Kumar into dust in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well as the assembly elections in Bihar in 2025," he said.
Nitish Kumar had dumped the BJP and formed the 'Mahagathbandhan' government with RJD, Congress and other parties in August 2022.
On his efforts to form an alliance of opposition parties against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Mr Kumar said, "We are trying to unite more and more parties in the country against the BJP. We will make all efforts and work unitedly. I recently met several opposition leaders in New Delhi. My aim is to unite opposition parties against the BJP before the general elections."
When asked about his plans to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Mr Kumar said, "Whenever, I meet her, I will inform you".
During his recent visit to Delhi, Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Besides, he met several other opposition leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Nitish Kumar has already clarified that he has no prime ministerial ambitions.
On several occasions in the past, Mr Kumar said he was looking forward to playing a "positive" role in forging opposition unity against the ruling NDA at the Centre.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)